Introduction
A note from Editor in Chief & Chief Content Officer Brad Berens: I'm pleased that this week's In Focus feature is written by Specific Media CEO Tim Vanderhook. It's worth pointing out that at the time of publication Specific Media is sponsoring our Ad Networks coverage, but Tim's byline is in no way a part of that sponsorship. You can find a more detailed explanation of our editorial policy here or contact me directly with questions.
How much of my budget should I spend on a creative test?
10 percent.
Remember: You're not throwing that budget away-- you're advertising to customers actively, while finding out what works. Spending 10 percent on a test will make the other 90 percent work harder and smarter.
Ad networks give brand advertisers a quick and efficient way to answer the question, "Which messages achieve our objectives?" prior to a full launch. By using an ad network, advertisers have the ability to reach out to multiple categories of users, via multiple targeting technologies, using different messaging to determine which creatives drive the highest response in each segment.
Ad networks present marketers with a platform that is seldom used for testing creative, but is probably one of the best features they offer. Clearly, a brand advertiser preparing to embark on a multi-million dollar national ad campaign would feel more comfortable if he/she possessed hard evidence attesting to the proposed campaign’s success potential.
Testing is simple, easy, inexpensive and instantly reveals volumes of actionable data to someone who is about to go live with a campaign.
In this piece we will walk through the different steps for finding success before going forward with a full commitment, and review how a major automotive manufacturer benefited from this process.
Author notes: Tim Vanderhook is president and CEO of SpecificMedia. Read full bio.
